Photograph taken by Vanessa Vargas (8/7/97): at Sam's farm in the 1 hectare plot. The coordinates are (1,40,90).

Leaves: The leaves resemble
the leaves of an ash; this is why Acer negundo can be commonly called the
ash-leaf maple (Elias 1980). Acer negundo is the most distinctive segregate
because it has"pinnately 3-5-foliate leaves" (Cronquist 1993).
The leaves are "opposite, decidious, [and] feather-like (pinnate)
compound" (Elias 1980). The leaflets are "ovate-obovate, oval
or ovate lanceolate" (Harrar and Harrar 1962). They are "5- 12
cm long and 3.2- 7 cm wide" (Elias 1980). The leaflets are pointed
at the tips and rounded to tapering at the base. Irregular course teeth
are along the margin. The coloration is light green above and paler beneath.
They are also usually hairy beneath. The stalks of the leaflets are short
and slender (Elias 1980).

Flowers: The flowers are
small and yellowish-green. The male and female flowers are found on seperate
trees. Flowers are each on a slender stalk and have a 5- lobed calyx. There
are no petals (Elias1980). The "male flowers [are] usually in clusters
of four [and their] stamens [are] often purplish in color (van Gelderen et al.
1994). The female flowers have "two whittish
stigmas on long pendulous racemes" (van Gelderen et al. 1994).

Habit: The boxelder is a
small to medium sized tree. It is usually about 20 meters tall and is irregularly
shaped with an uneven broad crown (Elias 1980). The trunk is straight to
crooked and branches close to the ground. It can have a diameter of 1.2
meters (Elias 1980).

Scientific ReferencesManual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas is a key by Radford,
Ahles, and Bell that identifies Acer negundo. It was first described in the book by Linnaeus called Species Plantarum on May 1, 1753 (Stafleu and Cowan 1981).

The authority and location where deposited
The authority who described Acer negundo was Carl von Linnaeus (Hooker et al. 1895). Linnaeus deposited Acer negundo at the Linnaean Herbarium at the Linnean Society of London (Stafleu and Cowan 1981). It is also deposited at the herbarium of The University of Georgia.

An abundance and distribution map of boxelder in Georgia.

This map is found in The distribution of Vascular Flora of Georgia
by Jones and Coile from the Department of Botany aat The University of
Georgia.

The native locations of the boxelder are the "banks of bottomland streams and the margins of ponds and swamps" (Grimm 1962). One can also find the boxelder on drier soils associated with many hard woods (Harrar and Harrar 1962). The best development of the boxelder occurs in the "lower Ohio and Mississippi valley" (Grimm 1962).

The Life Conditions of Acer negundo

The boxelder grows quickly the first 15 to 20 years, and then, it grows slowly being able to live 75 to 100 years. The branches of the boxelder are brittle, and the timber is of poor quality (van Gelderen et al. 1994). It used to be planted on street sides, but it's abundant fruits made it undesirable for street-side situations (Elias 1980).

Economic Uses and Interesting Information

The boxelder is used for "cheap furniture, woodenware, boxes, crates, pulpwood, and also for chemical distillation" (Grimm 1962). Small amounts of white sugar can be made from the sap at a local level. It is said to be of very good quality (Grimm 1962).
According to Lewis and Elvin-Lewis, an active compound coming from triterpenoid saponins can be found in boxelder, and it is used in cancer chemo therapeutic drugs (1977). {did not read}